Tapping the Hispanic labor pool: creating an effective employment brand is the best way to successfully recruit from the nation's fastest-growing demographic group

HR Magazine, April, 2004 by Robert Rodriguez

For many organizations, effectively recruiting Hispanic professionals is a critical goal. U.S. Census data show that Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group, representing the largest minority in the country. By 2050, Hispanics will make up one-quarter of the population and will nearly triple in number to 97 million strong.

For recruiters, this is a significant portion of the population that can't be ignored. For business professionals as well, this population growth means Hispanics will have increasing purchasing power, which furthers the business case for employing a diverse Hispanic workforce that can help better understand and gain access to this market.

Although the benefits of attracting Hispanic workers are clear, HR professionals are having difficulty tapping this pool of talent. The problem is that traditional recruitment strategies do not effectively reach Hispanic candidates.

If Hispanics aren't attracted by traditional recruiting efforts, it may be because they often don't believe that such traditional methods will help them get a job, says Abe Tomas Hughes, chairman of the board of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE), a nonprofit affinity organization based in Chicago. This feeling may stem in part from limited access and exposure to traditional recruiting methods, and a lack of understanding regarding how these methods work, he says.

Instead of traditional recruitment methods, Hispanics often find jobs through networks of friends and family. As a result, employers that wish to attract Hispanic workers must be prepared to take a long-term approach, one that gradually establishes a solid word-of-mouth reputation.

Edwin Garcia, CEO of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA), headquartered in Dallas, says the biggest recruitment concern for organizations is to "cultivate a positive employer image within the Hispanic community." Such an employment brand will make it easier for organizations to attract Hispanic candidates.

Hispanics tend to be brand-conscious and brand-loyal when it comes to making purchasing decisions, so organizations with a strong employment brand will benefit, says Garcia.

Employment branding does not refer to an organization's products or services, but instead to an organization's reputation as an employer. Establishing such a brand within the Hispanic community requires organizations to:

* Understand and value Hispanic culture. An effective brand goes further when it reaches the right people. And reaching the right people has everything to do with learning who they are.

* Show that they offer valid opportunities for advancement. Talented workers want to know that they will be given the opportunity to succeed and that their ethnicity will not be a factor--either positively or negatively--in their career advancement.

* Get involved in the Hispanic community. Such efforts go a long way toward building trust and create a foundation for a long-term employment relationship.

Understand Hispanic Culture(s)

Understanding Hispanic culture--or, more importantly, the cultural variety within the Hispanic community--is vital to building an effective employment brand.

Because of the ethnic diversity and differences in dialect and acculturation patterns, it's difficult to effectively recruit Hispanics as a homogenous group.

Andres Tapia, chief officer of global diversity at Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Ill., points out that the worldview and values of a Mexican-American will be very different from those of a Cuban-American, even though both individuals could be called Hispanic. Recruiters "need to understand" such differences if they wish to demonstrate that they value heritage and ethnicity when trying to build relationships with Hispanic job candidates, Tapia says.

Because the Hispanic community is diverse, there is no single effective approach for recruiting Hispanics. Rather, HR professionals must pursue several, tailored approaches simultaneously to be successful.

That's a lesson Tammy Napoli--director of recruitment at Walgreens, a drugstore chain headquartered in Deerfield, Ill.--can attest to. Walgreens recently planned to place employment ads on radio stations targeted to Hispanic audiences, but Napoli learned that using the same ad for different radio stations would be ineffective.

Instead, Walgreens customized its ads for each radio station--a strategy that speaks to various Hispanic subgroups on their own terms and one the company gained from its association with HACE. HACE is one of a few affinity organizations that can help educate companies on the Hispanic community and open doors to Hispanic talent.

Organizations seek out groups like HACE to learn about the history of Hispanics in the United States, gain insights on the diversity within the Hispanic community and receive recommendations on strategies to improve their Hispanic recruitment efforts.

Another popular affinity organization is NSHMBA, which has 6,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. One of the group's premier events is its annual career conference, which last year attracted more than 6,000 attendees, mostly Hispanic.